Retailers

Retail consumer spending sees sharpest drop since 2012

Consumer spending has suffered its sharpest drop in six years, according to Visa’s latest consumer spending index. Spending in-store fell by 5.4 percent in April when compared to the same period last year, while overall consumer spending fell by two percent, matching March’s year-on-year figures. Online spending was also down…

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Smartphone purchases account for 54 percent of UK retail transactions, study finds

Retail purchases made on smartphones have seen a 66 percent increase in Q1 of 2018 compared to Q4 2017 according to marketing technology company Criteo’s Global Commerce Review. The research also showed that mobile devices accounted for over half (54 percent) of retail transactions in the UK. Shopping apps are…

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Suspended sentence for pet shop burglary man

A man has been given a suspended sentence after being charged at Southampton Crown Court with the burglary of Pampurred Pet in Salisbury. Douglas Jaques was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment suspended for 24 months, ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, pay compensation of £3,009.50 to the…

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Couple to launch own pet food brand after being ‘unhappy’ with current market

A couple is set to launch a new brand of pet food after they were ‘unhappy’ with the choice available for their own pets. The new company aims to “avoid nonsense like artificial preservatives, colours or flavours and unnecessary nasties like salt, sugar and pea protein”. The food will also…

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43,000 retailers in ‘financial distress’

Nearly 43,000 retailers ended the first quarter of the year in a state of ‘significant’ financial distress, according to research from insolvency firm Begbies Traynor. Its ‘Red Flag Alert’ research for Q1 2018, which monitors the financial health of UK companies, found the number of firms in the category was…

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Retail salaries rise as April sees vacancies increase

Advertised salaries in the retail sector saw a 1.7 percent increase last month, according to the latest data from job site CV-Library. Advertised jobs rose by 29 percent year-on-year, however application rates dropped by 13.1 percent when compared with data from April 2017. Pay rates in retail fell by six…

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Amazon launches its own brand of pet products

Online retail giant Amazon has today launched its own brand of pet products, dubbed Wag. Wag will offer Amazon Prime subscribers a range of different pet related items, starting with dog food. The new Amazon brand comes at a time when pet retail is booming, with US shoppers expected to…

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Paper-reliant retailers risk losing staff to tech-savvy competitors

Almost nine in 10 employees admit they would prefer to work for a retailer that has embraced digital technology, research by mobile data capture service WorkMobile has found. The survey found that 89 percent of workers believe it would be more beneficial working for a retailer that invests in digital…

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Solid first-quarter growth for online retail orders

Online retail delivery order volumes were up 9.6 percent year-on-year in March, according to the latest data from the IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index. This completes what has been a solid first-quarter for online retail order volumes, with total growth for the quarter increasing by 12.5 percent, just short of…

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Sainsbury’s recalls pet food after ‘higher than specified levels of vitamin D’ found

Sainsbury’s has recalled several of its pet food products after “higher than specified levels of vitamin D”, which should not be consumed over long periods of time, were found. The products in question were 12x100g and 48x100g selections of Adult Complete Nutrition in Jelly and Gravy, Senior and Puppy Complete…

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